Chapter 5: A Day At The Beach
Liz was dying to get out of the house again, so that morning at breakfast she asked if it was possible to go to the beach, since it was going to be a sunny day.
"The beach? That sounds lovely! If only I didn't have to work so I could go with you", Sam said with a sad look on his face.
"That's your own fault, dad", Liz said, standing next to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulder, "You work too hard and take too little time off".
Ray couldn't help but smile at the two of them. He liked to see how close they were.
"Well, if I don't do it, no one will, sweetheart. But I will promise to take a day off next week, okay?"
"Yay!" Liz exclaimed as she hugged her father, "That's great. Thanks dad".
After calling Samar, Meera and Kim, only Meera was available to go to the beach that day.
"I hope you don't mind going" Liz asked Ray as he was reading the newspaper "I never even asked whether you like going to the beach".
"Hahaha, since when is it important what I like, Elizabeth? I go where you go, remember? That's how this works" Ray gave Liz a broad smile, "But thank you for asking and yes, I do like the beach. I'm just not a big fan of sunbathing"
"I do like getting a tan but I prefer to do that here, at the poolside. Besides it's too hot anyway to be lying in the sun, we would probably burn to a crisp. But I thought it would be nice to just have a walk along the shore, maybe have a drink somewhere, you know, just relax" Liz said.
"Great, let me know what time you want to go"
When Meera arrived at 10:30, Ray and Liz grabbed their stuff, put everything in the trunk of Liz's car and headed to the beach. Meera sat in the back of the car so they only had one car to park as it was probably going to be busy.
After about half an hour's drive they arrived and as they had suspected, it was already very crowded. They drove around for several minutes before they got lucky when a car drove off, offering them a space to park.
They got out and immediately got hit by the heat.
"Wow, it really is very warm today… Good thing there's a bit of a breeze" Ray said as he went for the bottle of sunscreen in his bag.
He started to rub his arms and legs with lotion and Liz couldn't help but stare. Not only because he wasn't wearing a suit today but a nice pair of blue shorts and a white t-shirt, but also because his muscles were really defined in these clothes.
"Could you do my back, please?" Meera asked Liz, ripping her out of her trance-like stare.
She handed Liz a bottle of lotion and Liz poured some on her hand before rubbing it on Meera's back.
When Liz was done, Meera helped Liz by doing her back. Liz took off her top and put it in her bag. She was now only wearing her bikini top and a skirt.
After everyone had had their lotion treatment, they headed off to the beach. The girls only took their towel with them and Ray was carrying a backpack with his towel and some drinks and snacks.
It was a huge beach but there were people as far as they could see. They decided to walk towards the water first and then walk along the shore.
Ray walked behind the women so they could talk and he could keep an eye out.
Because it was so busy, it was quite hard for Ray to see if there was anyone out of place but he tried anyway, using his training.
After they walked for about 20 minutes they were all thirsty but instead of taking the drinks from Ray's backpack, they decided to walk to the restaurant that was situated right at the beach.
They settled on the terrace and Ray was about to go and sit a few tables from Liz and Meera when Liz motioned with her hand that he should come and sit with them.
"Are you sure?" Ray asked as he walked up to the table where the girls had sat down, "I don't mind having to sit separately"
"No, don't be silly, just come and sit here" Liz said as she pulled out a chair next to her.
All of them turned their chairs so they were all facing the beach.
"Ahhh, this is the life" Liz sighed as she lay back in the chair, her eyes closed, her face in the sun.
"Yes it is" Meera agreed, mimicking Liz's moves.
Ray looked to his side and focused on Liz's face. Wow, she really is very beautiful, he thought as he looked at her with a slight smile.
Meera peeked through her eyelashes and caught Ray staring at Liz. She closed her eyes again and smiled to herself. Hmmm, interesting, she thought.
After they ordered their drinks they started talking and Liz's birthday party came up.
"So, have you made up your mind yet?" Meera inquired, "It's only three days away you know"
"Haha, yes, I do know. I am well aware of when my birthday is, thank you" Liz giggled, "And yes, I thought about it and I want to have a party at the house. I want to keep it small and only invite my best friends and a few people from school who I'm still in touch with.
"So, aren't you a little late with the invitations then? If it's only three days from now, it's possible that people have other plans already" Ray asked Liz.
"No. They know it's my birthday and I already spoke to people about it. I just told them I didn't know what the plans were yet but that there would be a party either way".
"Okay, very smart", Ray smiled and he was relieved that the party would be at the house. It was nice of Liz to have informed her friends about a party but it would've been next to impossible for him to arrange something in a club on such short notice. At the house it wouldn't be a problem. They had the standard guys at the gates and he would arrange a few more men for inside, although that probably wouldn't even be necessary.
They were loving it so much on the terrace that they ordered another drink and asked for the lunch menu.
Liz felt the sun start to burn, so she went for her bottle of sunscreen in the backpack. Just as she was about to ask Meera to rub her back and shoulders, Meera got up to use the bathroom.
Liz started to put lotion on her arms and legs and tried to take her time so Meera would be back but by the time she had finished Meera still wasn't in sight.
"Erm, would you mind?" Liz almost whispered to Ray, holding out the bottle of lotion to him.
"Oh, of course", Ray took the bottle from her and squirted some lotion on his hand. Liz had turned her back towards him and he rubbed his hands together before running them over Liz's back and shoulders.
The unexpected tenderness of his touch moved Liz and she closed her eyes. His strong fingers touched her so gently as she felt him rub her neck, shoulders and back. He even lifted her bikini straps with one hand so he could move the other hand over her skin underneath.
Ray was enjoying this much more than he should. He loved the feeling of her soft, warm skin underneath his fingers. He took his time on purpose and hoped Liz wouldn't notice.
He was just finished when Meera came walking back. She saw the bottle of lotion in Liz's hand "Oh, here, give me that, I'll do your back again" she offered.
"That's okay, Meera, it's already done" Liz smiled.
They had lunch and Ray ate a club sandwich while Meera and Liz both had a caesar salad.
After Ray paid the bill, they took off, walking some more along the shore. Liz took her sandals off and started walking through the water, which would come and go with the waves. Meera bent over and splashed Liz with some water. Liz squeaked from the sudden feeling of the cold water and immediately took revenge by splashing back.
Ray watched the two women and smiled at their playfulness. He loved seeing Liz carefree after all the trouble she had been through lately.
As he watched the two running off and splashing each other, he caught something out of the corner of his eye. A guy, wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses, was observing Liz and Meera. Ray could've sworn that he'd seen this guy earlier today and decided to keep an eye on him.
As Liz and Meera ran further and further, it was a good test for Ray to see if the guy was just a beach goer or if he was there for other reasons. Ray started walking faster to keep up with the girls and he saw the guy doing the same.
As both men got closer to the women, the guy with the baseball cap took a camera out of his pocket and started taking pictures. Of Liz and Meera.
Unfortunately the guy was too far away for Ray to get a clear look at his face or other features.
Ray was about to walk towards him when the guy actually spotted Ray and started to walk off in the opposite direction. It was too busy on the beach for Ray to be able to make it to the guy quickly. Damn it, Ray thought, knowing this was a missed opportunity to find out who he was.
He decided not to tell Liz right now, because she was having such a good time and it wouldn't make a difference anyway. He watched the guy walk off and decided to make his way back to the women.
As he got closer he could only see Meera. She was smiling at Ray and asked him where he had been.
"I've been watching the crowd a bit" he said, hoping she wouldn't ask more questions.
Ray had just asked Meera "Where's Liz?", when all of a sudden he felt a cold splash of water from behind.
"Never mind", he said to Meera, as he turned around and saw Liz smiling at him.
"Sorry, I just thought you looked a little hot and could use some water to cool off", she giggled, before realizing what she'd just said.
Ray raised an eyebrow and smiled back. "Oh really?" he said while slowly walking towards Liz. "Well, you look pretty hot yourself" Ray said while bending over and splashing Liz with a huge amount of water.
"Ahhh" Liz yelped as she tried to run off, her attempt in vain. Ray was a lot faster and ran after her still splashing her every time the waves brought water to shore. Meera ran after the two, smiling at the scene in front of her.
Liz was breathing heavily by the time they had stopped their antics. She was also soaking wet and laughing uncontrollably. Meera had finally caught up with the two of them and was laughing just as hard.
"Wow, I had no idea you could run that fast, Liz" she huffed as she was trying to catch her breath.
"If only I could run faster", Liz responded, "Ray caught up with me so easily!"
Ray looked at her over his sunglasses, not having any trouble breathing.
"Well, maybe next time you should be more careful who you pick your battles with", he chuckled.
After drying themselves off and cleaning up a bit, they drove back to the house.
Meera stayed for dinner and they all had a great evening talking and laughing.
After Meera went home and Liz went upstairs to take a much-needed shower, Ray took a moment to talk to Sam about that day.
"I'm so sorry, Sam, that I didn't get the chance to get to that guy", Ray said after telling Sam what had happened, "I know it could have been just a guy taking pictures of beautiful women but it also could've been the guy we're looking for".
Sam looked at Ray "Look, don't blame yourself, okay? I know that if you could have gotten to him, that you would have. The situation didn't allow you to, so let's not dwell on that".
They spoke some more before Ray decided to go and take a shower as well.
He went to his room and went into his adjoining bathroom. He was stripped down to his boxers when he heard a scream coming from Liz's room.
He immediately shot out of his bathroom, through his room, out the door and into Liz's room. He didn't even think to knock on her door.
"Elizabeth!", he yelled while storming in.
Liz stood there in her pyjamas, a tank top and a pair of shorts, and had a towel wrapped on her head. She looked at him with big eyes but slowly seemed to calm down. She looked at him, her eyes going up and down his body.
Ray only then realised that he was standing there in nothing but his boxers.
The way Liz looked at him made him blush slightly but he tried to focus.
"Elizabeth, what's going on? Why did you scream?"
"Uh, what? Oh right, well, look!" Liz stammered while pointing at the wall.
Ray followed Liz's finger and saw a big, black spider sitting on the wall, near the ceiling.
He closed his eyes and let out a relieved sigh. "Okay, I see" he said as he glanced around the room.
He grabbed a chair to stand on and carefully scooped up the spider.
"I'll take him outside" Ray said as he turned and walked out of Liz's room, "Goodnight".
"Thank you! And goodnight, Ray", Liz said, watching him until he disappeared from view.
Liz sat down on her bed, thinking what could have happened to Ray. Because when he walked out of her room, she'd seen burn scars on his back…
